THE Parkhead defender says skipper Broony is the beating heart of the Celtic side and is delighted that he has evaded the surgeon's knife.

ADAM MATTHEWS watched Scott Brown lead from the front in his finest display of the season and admitted he’s over the moon the Celtic skipper has dodged the surgeon’s knife.

The Welshman says Brown is the beating heart of the Hoops on the park and the life and soul in the dressing room off it as he underlined his value on Saturday.

Brown, 27, was instrumental as Neil Lennon’s side blew Kilmarnock away 3-1 with a scintillating second-half showing that followed the midfielder’s first goal since March.

But almost as pleasing as the £4.5million former Hibs man’s performance is the news he is unlikely to endure an operation to solve a troublesome hip injury.

Instead, the Scotland star will try to manage the problem with injections and continue to take guidance from Parkhead’s medical team and manager Lennon.

And Matthews – second only to Brown in terms of top performers at Rugby Park – is delighted with that discovery.

The full-back said: “Scott Brown was brilliant, he always is. Even with the injury he’s got he is still one of our best players. But thank God he hasn’t had the surgery. Off the park he’s a great lad, he’s always up to something.

“Whenever it’s someone’s birthday, he puts a little prank on them. There’s always a lot of banter. He’s the soul of the team really. He’s the same behind the scenes as he is on the pitch.

“He’s great to have in the dressing room. He’s on Twitter now and has been in a bit of trouble already. I’m sure he’ll calm down when he gets used to it.

Celtic's Scott Brown celebrates his goal against Kilmarnock during their Scottish Premier League soccer match in Kilmarnock

“And he even cost the gaffer money with his goal as the gaffer bet Scott and Joe they wouldn’t score. The gaffer was £40 down but he’s not struggling for money so it should be OK.”

Matthews has found it hard holding down a place given the form of Mikael Lustig – reportedly a target for Russian outfit Rubin Kazan – but made the most of his shot in Ayrshire.

The 20-year-old featured in all three goals, among them a fine passing move rounded off by Georgios Samaras.

He added: “I think it was my best game for Celtic so far. The team were magnificent and I was happy with my personal performance. I hope I can keep it going.

“With the squad we have got we have people on the bench who can come in and do themselves justice if we have injuries along the way. If people get the opportunity they will take it.

“All over the pitch we have competition for places. It’s always good because it keeps training sharp. Players know they have to work harder to get in the team.

“Mikael has been doing well recently so hopefully my performance here will have done me some good.

“I like to attack so that formation with a back three suits me. It suits Emilio (Izaguirre) as well and we showed here that we can play that formation well.

“For the third goal, everyone touched the ball. There were 22 passes. By any standards that’s a great team goal and it was well finished by Sami.

“The whole team were frustrated to concede in stoppage time. But we can’t let it overshadow the performance in the first 93 minutes. We can’t complain.

“The difference between home and away form this season is just one of those things. We proved last year we can play at home under pressure from the crowd.”

Celtic can now concentrate on domestic matters with the Champions League on the back burner until February.

And in the wake of last week’s home win over Spartak Moscow, Matthews said: “It was a great experience for the club and we’re looking forward to the last 16. But our minds are now fully focused on domestic league and cup.

“That’s how it has to be for the next couple of months. Champions League games are big games – they are the ones you want to play in. But we know we need a good run in the league.”

Next up is a Scottish Cup replay against Second Division Arbroath and Matthews added: “We have to approach it the same way as we did the Kilmarnock match.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game in tough conditions. We have to go into it with the right mindset and put on the same kind of performance.”